Sex-specific regulation of IL-10 production in human adipose tissue in obesity.

BACKGROUND

Obesity-associated metabolic complications display sexual dimorphism and can be impacted by cytokines. We previously showed that interleukin-10 (IL-10) was upregulated in white adipose tissue (WAT) of obese women with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Whether this pertains to men is unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the impact of obesity and T2D on WAT IL-10 levels in men versus women.

METHODS

Plasma and subcutaneous WAT biopsies were obtained from 108 metabolically well-characterized individuals. WAT expression/secretion and WAT-resident IL-10-secreting macrophage number were measured. Circulating sex hormone levels were correlated to WAT expression in 22 individuals and sex hormone effects on macrophage expression were investigated .

RESULTS

Obese women with T2D showed increased expression/secretion and IL-10-secreting WAT macrophage number compared to other female groups. This difference was absent in men. Non-obese women and men with T2D showed similar IL-10 levels compared to healthy controls, indicating that T2D alone does not regulate IL-10. Although WAT expression correlated with serum estrone (E1) concentrations, recombinant E1 did not affect macrophage expression

CONCLUSION

WAT IL-10 levels are higher in women with obesity and T2D, but not in men and this effect is primarily attributed to obesity . This is less likely to be driven by circulating sex hormones. We propose that the WAT IL-10 might exert protective effects in obesity-associated chronic inflammation in women which could be one of the contributing factors for the decreased morbidity observed in women during obesity than men.